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Debbie’s Diary
13th September 2009
Hi everyone,
I hope this letter finds you well. I am writing to you to update you on our work in Russia please take a minute to read it and maybe you can help us in some small way to continue our success.
I have just returned from a fairly gruelling trip to Russia, I fully acknowledge that Ireland isn’t a great place for many at the moment particularly for charities, however we have just been hit with a further 25% budget cut across the board in the orphanages, I simply don’t know how we will get so many little ones through the winter ahead. We had successfully gone way beyond worrying about shoes, winter coats, heating, etc, and had moved on to a different level of care. We were investing in education, college programmes, even universities in some cases with all of you help. It has been a major success story for us there; we have changed the lives of so many, and given them a future that didn’t include prostitution and prison. Again we have 100% of the children leaving Hortolova accepted into higher education and are maintaining a college graduation rate of 64%, which compares very well with the national average of just 3% of orphans who enter college going on to graduate. That is a major achievement.
It hasn’t been easy over the years, but I’ve had wonderful Irish volunteers, consultants, great staff and the support of many Russians at every level supporting our success. In truth most of us probably got more from the children than we ever gave them.
Last week set me back; firstly we have been caring for a class of junior infants for the past 2 years, a love affair for us all. They, in general, are abandoned and have no one. Due to cut back they were taken from us, bundled on to a bus and sent to an orphanage hours away. I couldn’t describe the tears and their fear. We let them down; we fought hard, the cutbacks sadly won. We don’t work in their new orphanage, a huge place not unlike Artane industrial school. We will of course stay with them as best we can, we are hoping to place them on our new “baby steps” programme and keep up their relationships with their sponsor families, again all of this is a major financial responsibility for us, it’s not fair to start something with children and then drop them when things get tough.
This scenario is common at the moment in many orphanages; children are numbers, and moved like furniture. It makes our work much more difficult as our success is based on stability.
The new budget cuts are fierce. Request are coming from all directions for our intervention, there is only so much we can do. Russia still has over 500,000 children in orphanages, the ten orphanages we help are so lucky!
The economy in Ireland has affected us all, and Irish Aid’s decision to cut all overseas aid funding this year will have a huge impact on us and the children. With the recommendations outlined in An Bord Snip Nua, this doesn’t look set to change over the next couple of years either.
You have helped us in the past, we understand the difficulties here at home but even a small donation, if you can, would go a long way.
We are all they have, they have become used to the Irish minding them, tucking them in at night, educating them, being there when they graduate, being there when they fail, I would so appreciate your help to keep us there. We are doing all we can to continue the success.
I’m thrilled to have won the Rehab International Person of the Year as announced on Saturday 12th September, live on RTE! Perhaps you saw it? This award would never have been possible without all of you behind me over the years; in fact WE won this award not me! I’m honoured of course; however help us get the children through the winter so I’m hoping the publicity will generate some much needed funds for us by increasing our profile. Thank you for taking the time to read this, thank you for all your help in the past, we need you now more than ever. The following are some ways you can help and remember any amount you can give is fantastic and will be greatly appreciated as always:
€20 buys a welcome pack for a newcomer to the orphanages
€30 buys art supplies for one class of children
€50 will buy a thermal winter coat and snow boots for one child for the freezing winter months
€100 will allow 4 children to travel once to see their siblings in other orphanages & €800 covers the total cost of sibling trips for one month for all children
€200 will ensure our cooking classes can continue in the Life Skills centre where each child is taught basic cooking skills so that they have the skills to take care of themselves when they leave care
€300 will buy new sports kits for one orphanage for the year
€500 will buy toys & books to fit out one playroom for young children to play in
**Another way you can help is by texting the word CHILD to 57800 to donate €5 to “To Russia With Love” to help us continue our work.
You are all fantastic people and never under estimate how important you are to these children.
Kindest regards
Debbie x
December 2007
Hi all,
I'm sitting in Moscow airport and will be here for the next 8 hours, there
are flight delays due to ice on the runways and heavy snow. I really need to
get home - December is manic in every house and I should be there for it. I
felt extremely guilty leaving for Russia this time, as I don't usually leave
home so close to Christmas. Mikey (my adored 13 year old) and myself love
the whole tree, lights, fire lit thing, so packing up to go 3 thousand miles
away wasn't ideal for family relations. They would never complain, but I was
feeling it. I envy men that they don't feel this, guilt is a woman thing, we
really are our own worst enemy. Before we leave home, ironing baskets have
to be empty, all laundry done, house hoovered to within an inch of its life,
dinner for next few days sorted, it's like we are going to die!!! It's
strange though, once you land in the snow, and run for that train at
midnight, you truly do leave your world behind. The train is straight out of
Dr. Zhivago - the hours of white forest that pass the window chill you down
off Dublin time and prepare you for what's ahead. Very quickly, Ireland has
faded and some of the guilt with it.
We have a new class of "babies", age 6, 7 and 8. Most of them didn't come
from a previous orphanages but from very bad family situations, they were
mostly wild on arrival, or the opposite, subdued by trauma. We have done
much to help them heal, hard work and love from Irish volunteers and Russian
staff,.JPG) a new playroom, warm jammies, dancing, sensory room therapy, circus
trips, their first dolls, buggies, train sets, all helped. They know us as
their Irish Mams, and if that helps them, then that's what we will be. They
are a beautiful bunch of kids, so much love to give, maybe because they
never had any before it's a new experience. One of my nights I stayed to do
bedtime, they put me into their little beds, tucked me in with their
teddies, they were in heaven. Their own carers don't have the luxury or time
to behave as I do, so I get all the best bits. I was in one of the little
girl's rooms, Sveta age 6, Natasha age 5, and Masha age 7. I asked them if
they had one wish in the whole world what would it be, thinking about what
they might like from Santa Claus. "We want you to sleep in our room tonight"
was the answer.....maybe that explains why I'm addicted.
For me personally the teenage boys are the hardest group to connect with,
but so worthwhile when you do. They pretend to be so tough, and sometimes
when I'm out walking with the kids one of them will slip his hand into your
hand just for a moment, without the rest seeing. The braver ones will give
you quick hug and the really brave ones will let you hug them to death and
smother them with Irish kisses. Like all boys, they need minding, their
bedrooms are bare and unwelcoming, whereas, the girls rooms are so gorgeous.
Their B.O. has to be battled with too, again the girls are the opposite. I
think because my own son is doted on to a ridiculous extent, I want someone
to be doing the same for this lot, but it just doesn't happen. I sat with
them for hours on this trip, I had nothing left to give when I left them, I
was drained. They need their Mammies and Daddies, we just cannot make up for
that. Christmas is hard for them, very, very hard. Most of them won't have a
single visitor. Only for TRWL they would have very little.
Other than Hortolova, we visited a "pryut", a holding house for newly
abandoned kids before they are distributed to orphanages. Awful, awful,
awful, places - so much raw sadness and trauma. We will sponsor this place
in 2008 as they don't have any help from local organisations. I sat next to
a little girl age 4, she doesn't speak, she was taken from her Mum a week
earlier - just imagine her Christmas. We also did meetings with the
administration, meetings with staff for our 2008 plans, met all our leavers
and made plans to extend this programme to more orphanages. Much work, but a
hugely successful programme to date. A major sponsor is badly needed though,
it's incredibly costly to keep them safe, fed and equipped through three or
four years of college.
I only had 3 days on the ground, but it was worth every mile travelled, they
are amazing children, it is such an honour to touch off their lives and be
in a position to be make their world a tiny bit better. Back now to Dublin,
we have huge plans for our tenth anniversary, and back to balancing the
carbs and protein for me!!! I'm looking forward to Christmas as I have a
very special child coming to stay with us, he was my daughter Zina's best
friend for their first 7 years in their orphanage, and they haven't met
since she came to Ireland, it was a huge coincidence that we found him. He
has never had a family, it will be his first Christmas with one, I'm so glad
it's with us. He is an extraordinary boy, 19 now, independent, shy, and his
only regret in life "is that he never had a Mum to love him", that's my job
for the next 2 weeks, I will be honoured to do it... isn't that what
Christmas is about?
A Happy and Peaceful Christmas to you and special thanks to everyone that
helps us to make the difference.
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